The Chinese are not coming. Or, not this year. The hyped political plot-line that cast Li Na's historic French Open win as the start of a sweep by the world's most populous nation was doused as Asia's first winner of a grand slam tennis event fell in the second round to Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

First Li lost her husband on Centre Court and then the match, from 5-3 and 40-15 up in the third set. Jiang, her partner, has a habit of stomping out when his wife's bad temper reaches him in the stands. He left in the middle of the second set but Li kept her humour. "Have you found your husband yet?" she was asked. "I don't know where he was going, so when I find him I will tell you," she batted back.

Jiang has been banned from the bedroom before for snoring. Told at the national tennis centre in Beijing to ditch him for the sake of her career, she declined.

In the two years she spent studying journalism during a break from sport Li was presumably taught not to challenge the status quo. In which case she was a terrible student. Asia's pioneer escaped state servitude and then chipped away at the national stereotype of athletes who come with conquering intent but without smiles.

Chinese sportsmen and women are commonly presumed in the West to arrive in "waves", as if they were no more than representatives of a government determined to declare this China's century, in business, culture and sport.

But they come, too, as individual life stories. Li has managed to combine the roles of Maoist hero and free spirit who negotiated her release from state control three years ago and was thus able to retain 90% of her income rather than the previous 35%.

"Flying solo is what people started to call it and it generated a lot of interest from within the sport and beyond," she said in a recent interview.

"It was a big decision to leave the system because many people said I would fail."

Plainly the Paris win has altered the chemistry as she steps on court now as a champion and a target for lesser names. "I didn't feel any different and I didn't feel any pressure but opponents see you differently," she said. "They feel they have nothing to lose on court."

Li won the French Open at Roland Garros on the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. Her win was watched by 100 million souls in a country where tennis is the third most popular sport behind football and basketball.

In her first grand slam event since Paris she ran into the resurgent Polish-born German Lisicki, whose blasting serve unsettled China's new star, who was adjudged by some commentators to be still weary from her efforts in France. In her loosest phases Li overhit her forehand, meeting it on the rise and ballooning it beyond the baseline. She described Lisicki's formidable service game as "impossible for a woman".

"After I lost the match I was a little bit sad but we both played great and all I can say is unlucky for me," Li added. "I had two match points but I couldn't do anything. Both players were fighting on the court."

Lisicki said: "It's such a great feeling to be here at Wimbledon, beating the French Open champion. I really had to start from zero after being on crutches for seven weeks. I was fully determined to come back strong.

"I had no muscles in my left calf after seven weeks and I had to learn how to walk again. It makes these moments sweeter. The crowd really supported me. They became so, so powerful.

"I always had a powerful serve. It's one of the best in women's tennis. It's very good to have a weapon like that."

Li Na returns to China in the next 24 hours cheerful and confident, despite being the first of the grand slam champions in the women's draw to be knocked out. Before she left she was asked what effect her success might have on the 30m Chinese players.

"They don't need to copy me. Some day they can do better than me," she said, before calling China's underperforming males to account. "The women are doing well but I hope one day the men can grow up as well." Their problem? "Lazy."

And how would she describe the thought of going back home after her European summer. "Good trip," she said. Then she went to look for her husband.